I had gotten my Master's in Civil Engineering, spent six years in the Army (computers) and had just come back to the house with twenty acres of land in the foothills an hour's drive from Washington that my parents had left to me. I had landed a dream job with a small engineering firm near Washington. I started in late November, so when the holiday party was held at a quite posh restaurant I knew almost no one except the older engineers in my group. They were very cordial at the party but had their wives/girlfriends with them and my being there alone made me feel a little on the outs.
Shortly after dinner a band started with nice dance music. The other couples at my table immediately got up to dance and I resigned myself to an evening of people-watching. My musings were suddenly interrupted when I realized someone was speaking to me. As I stood I realized I was almost on eye level with a striking young woman. In the second it took me to stand I saw that she was tall (about 5'-10") and slim with a beautiful face, long auburn hair and a knockout body. She said her name was Dianne, she worked in Accounting, and she had a confession to make. I asked her to sit, hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself by starting to drool or finding that I had spinach stuck in my teeth. As I held her chair and she sat, her skirt rode up showing a magnificent pair of legs.
Her "confession" was that the boss had asked her, along with several others, to make an effort at the party to welcome people who were new to the company. I told her that I would go into the boss' office the next day and kiss his shoe in gratitude. At least we started off with a laugh.
Within the first few minutes I learned that she had been with the company for six years after coming East from California shortly after graduating high school. She lived by herself in a condo overlooking the city and the river, and she was not dating anyone. Digital photography was her main hobby and she said she had a computer setup in her condo. Apparently she spent most evenings and weekends either taking pictures or working on them at the computer, as well as spending time at a gym.
Dancing with her was like Christmas, birthday and the first day of Spring -- all rolled up into one sensation. As the party wound down I asked her to have dinner with me the following weekend. She hesitated, then said she had made it a policy not to date people in the same company she worked for. She must have seen the disappointment in my eyes because she suggested we have lunch together the next week.
That's the way it went for the next six months. A number of lunches, a couple of dinners (Dutch treat), some movies and art galleries, even a very few "sisterly" goodnight kisses after a dinner, and lots of cold showers on my part. Many nights were spent dreaming about her. She talked about spending time at the gym, and I could only hope to see what that toned body really looked like.
Late the next Spring the boss asked both of us into his office. He wanted us to attend a management seminar, to be held over five days at a fancy hotel on the Gulf coast. He would pay all expenses, and we would have the weekend there before the Monday start of the program as a bonus. I immediately said yes and Dianne agreed after a little hesitation.
We flew down on a Friday afternoon, after a very hectic week. We got settled in adjoining rooms on the twelfth floor, overlooking the gulf. There was a connecting door between the rooms, but I figured the chances of its getting unlocked were somewhere between zero and zero. We had stopped for dinner on the way from the airport, and had also picked up some wine and liquor. At that point I was tired enough to be happy with a couple of drinks and sitting on the balcony and watching the sun set. Dianne said she was going to shower and put on something more comfortable and would join me for a drink. I suggested she open the connecting door so she would not have to use the hall doors. At least I had solved the problem of the locked door.
A short while later she came back in shorts and a tee shirt. We had drinks and quiet conversation, enjoying the sunset and the sound of the waves. It had gotten dark and Dianne had pulled her chair close to me. She talked about growing up in California, with a father that was emotionally abusive to her and her mother. He apparently constantly berated both of them and punished Dianne for every minor infraction of his many rules. She had dated a football player the senior year of high school who turned out to be the same type. She had graduated from high school and was set for college the following fall. They went out for dinner to celebrate her eighteenth birthday and he took her to a buddy's apartment after and demanded some rough sex -- things she did not want to do. She refused, he beat her and threw her out. She escaped to the east coast to get away from all that. She had dated a few times in the past couple of years but because of her fear of what had happened to her, nothing ever developed.
I held out my hand to her and, after a moment, she took it and said, "Thank you." We sat there in the dark, just holding hands.
Shortly after we were both getting sleepy. Dianne went to her room and I cleaned up the drinks, turned the lights out and stood at the balcony rail watching the moonlight and the waves. I heard the connecting door open, and Dianne came over and stood close to me with her head down. "I really like you and like being with you," she said, "But I'm scared."
I put my arms around her and when she looked up at me I could see that she was crying.
"It's so lonely in bed by myself every night. I'd love to feel someone curled up against me but I'm not ready for sex, yet."
"Stay with me," I said. I led her to the bed and we curled up with her back to me. She reached back and took my hand, pulling my arm around her and holding my hand to her breast. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Is this too difficult for you?"
"This is the most wonderful night I could imagine," I replied.
We woke early the next morning. I went down to the lobby to get us coffee and came back to sit with Dianne on the balcony.
"Thank you for last night," she said. "I woke up in the middle of the night with your arm around me and all I wanted to do was to feel you inside me, but I'm so frightened that something will go wrong or I'll do something wrong and you'll hate me."
"I don't think there is anything you would do that would make me hate you. You are a very beautiful and very desirable woman. We've got a week together and other than the seminars all we have to do is make each other happy".
We had breakfast, then collected towels, blanket and sunscreen and headed for the beach. Dianne had a dark blue one-piece suit. It wasn't spectacular but it did give hints of her delicious body. We spent the morning and afternoon on the beach and had lunch at an outdoor café near the hotel.
